" In light of Ignatius' 'Two Standards' and 'The Mystries Done From The Garden To The House Of Annas', at any moment we can be Judas or Peter, a Christian life can be a fine line."

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Jesuit On Egypt

Fr.Samir Khalil Samir, S.J.

“What we need first of all is justice, equality, social reform because the gap between rich and poor is far too wide and this is the real cause of the Islamic fundamentalist movement”, says Egyptian Jesuit priest and Scholar on Islam, Samir Khalil Samir.

The Professor at Rome’s Pontifical Oriental Institute spoke to Vatican Radio about the current wave of protests that are sweeping Arab nations in North Africa and beyond.

“We need change, the Arab world must change. We need alternate parties but in our countries there is nothing”. Asked by Emer McCarthy if the Western concept of democracy is applicable to Egypt and the wider Arab world, the scholar replied it is “applicable but not yet practicable”.

“If you have authoritarian regimes they systematically destroy all the leaderships so only people who are in agreement with the current system are in power”. In the case of Egypt “Mubarack nominated his second in command, Omar Suleiman who is a good diplomat a military officer. But the question is this good for the country?”

About Me

I am not a Jesuit, nor am I a cleric. I spent about 5 years under the spiritual direction of a Jesuit, 3 of those years in a weekly directed retreat in everyday life. The profound impact that the Society and the Excercises had upon my life, resulted in me, trying to deal with that impact in some way by sharing my view of Jesus Christ with others. My intention is to pull together Jesuitical and Catholic subjects that interest me. I was born on the feast day of St. Paul Miki, S.J.. I am the father of three small children and an infant, I am married to a great wife.